"Is that all the Fatui elites can do?"
Kael Arclight said coldly. His voice cut through the night like ice.
He narrowed his eyes. Destructive Path power rippled along his sword as he swung. The blade streaked like a meteor and aimed straight at the nearest female elite.
She flinched in panic, too slow to dodge. She raised her weapon to block, but Kael's strike carried far more force than she expected. The sword tore through her guard like a beast's claw, knocked her blade aside, and then struck her shoulder.
A heavy thud. She was sent flying and slammed onto the cobbles, blood spurting from her wound. She did not get up.
The Fatui elites were stunned, panic written across their faces. They had expected to overwhelm Kael, but this young man shattered every expectation. His swordwork was precise and merciless. Each blow carried unstoppable force. With his weapon's edge, he created a pressure the elites had not faced before.
As the Fatui felt the tide turn, the male elite at the front changed expression. He realized he could not win by numbers or ordinary skill. A cold smile flashed in his eyes and his anger hardened.
"Today, you will die." He snarled, then plunged his hand into his black cloak and produced a strange red device. It looked like a gem carved with alien runes, ringed with sharp metal points, exuding a malign aura. Tiny grooves in its core pulsed with an eerie light, like a blood-tinted eye.
"The Corrupted Eye." Kael's gaze tightened. The Fatui elite held one of those too? The eleven Fatui Harbingers wield such Eyes as authority. For an ordinary elite to possess one was troubling.
The elite sneered and activated the device. With a click the gem's red light swelled.
A twisting wave of energy filled the air and the temperature dropped, then a crushing pressure slammed outward, as if the world itself had gathered force.
"Black flame." The elite spat the word as the gem flung out a jet of black, deathly fire that coalesced into lashlike chains. These black-flame chains lashed toward Kael.
They were not ordinary fire. The darkness clinging to them smelled of rot. The flames gathered, formed binding chains, and struck with burning, corrosive force. The air seemed ripped apart. Heat and an acrid stench flooded the scene.
Kael's eyes narrowed. Even from a distance he could tell this black flame was unlike usual elementals. Each chain radiated potent binding power and terrible penetration. Clearly an ability granted by the Corrupted Eye. Unlike ordinary fire, this black flame carried a fetter. Once entangled, a target could lose the will to resist.
Kael took a breath and rose like wind, easily avoiding the first lash. A second chain followed, bearing a scorching blast that slammed toward him. He pivoted and met it with his sword. The moment steel met black flame a searing heat ran up the blade and into his arm. Pain stabbed his muscles. The edge burned with a deep scar; for a moment the blade seemed on the verge of being consumed.
This thing was vicious, Kael thought, but it did not terrify him. He increased the Destructive Path overlay on his sword and moved with faster, sharper motions. The black-flame chains writhed like living things, continuing to coil and strike with terrible, whispering sounds. Each sought to bind him.
Kael did not panic. He adjusted his stance and, relying on agility and unmatched swordsmanship, slipped through another attack and cut the chains apart. Each chain split with a keening crack. The lingering embers of black flame burst in the air like surf on a cliff, shaking those who watched.
He swept his blade in a wide arc and shattered the last link. The black flame collapsed into smoke and thinned into nothing.
"You… what is that weapon you carry?" the Corrupted-Eye wielder spat, eyes wide. He watched, unbelieving, as Kael's sword alone had severed chains forged by the Eye itself. Only elemental artifacts of legendary grade should resist such binding fire.
Other Fatui elites shared his shock and fury. They had misjudged Kael's strength and now faced him with fresh fear. They had not expected such an easy undoing of their Corrupted Eye's manifestation.
"You can block my black flame?" the elite snarled, voice trembling with anger and disbelief. "This is only the beginning. The Eye's power cannot be so easily broken."
He poured more energy into the Corrupted Eye. The gem's red glow flared again and the air's pressure spiked. This time the black-flame chains condensed with far greater speed and force, surging like beasts toward Kael. Compared to the first volley, their destructive and binding power had multiplied many times over. Heat rolled in waves that made the air warp.
Kael's expression hardened. He could feel the difference now. The Eye had a second ignition. Whatever enchantment bound to the gem could intensify on command.
He prepared himself, sword raised and Destructive Path energy humming along the blade, ready for the storm to come.